Residence Paris, France Role Industrialist Nationality French Spouse Anais Jeanneret | Education Lycee Janson de Sailly Net worth 6.9 billion USD (2015) Name Vincent Bollore Siblings Michel-Yves Bollore | |
 | ||
Born 1 April 1952 (age 71) ( 1952-04-01 ) Boulogne-Billancourt, France Alma mater University of Paris X: Nanterre Occupation Chairman and CEO, Bollore Children Yannick Bollore, Cyrille Bollore, Marie Bollore, Sebastien Bollore Parents Monique Follot, Michel Bollore Similar Martin Bouygues, Arnaud Lagardère, Louis Le Duff | ||
French billionaire Bolloré under formal investigation in Africa corruption probe
Vincent Bolloré (born 1 April 1952) is a French businessman. He is the chairman and CEO of the investment group Bolloré.
Contents
- French billionaire Bollor under formal investigation in Africa corruption probe
- Early life
- Career
- Personal life
- References
Early life
Vincent Bolloré was born on 1 April 1952 in Boulogne-Billancourt. He attended the Lycée Janson de Sailly, before graduating with a Master of Laws (LLM) degree from Université Paris X Nanterre.
Career
He started his career as an investment bank trainee at Edmond de Rothschild.
His personal investment career began when he took over at his family-controlled conglomerate Bolloré, which deals in maritime freight and African trade, and paper manufacturing (cigarette and bible paper). Bolloré employs 33,000 people worldwide. He is a well-known corporate raider in France who has succeeded in making money by taking large stakes in French listed companies, in particular the building and construction group Bouygues, where he left with a sizeable capital gain after a power struggle.
In late 2004, his investment group started building a stake in advertising group Havas, becoming its largest single shareholder. He mounted a coup and replaced Alain de Pouzilhac as CEO in July 2005. In 2005, through his family company, he expanded his media interests by launching the Direct 8 television station. Towards the end of 2005, he began building a stake in independent British media planning and buying group, Aegis. As of July 2006, his stake in Aegis stood at 29%. Direct Soir, a free newspaper, was launched in June 2006. In January 2008, he manifested interest in becoming a shareholder of famed, but troubled, Italian car manufacturer Pininfarina. The Bolloré Group also has important positions in the economies of several former French colonies in Africa (in particular Ivory Coast, Gabon, Cameroon, and Congo).
Personal life
He has four children from his first union, Sébastien, Yannick, Cyrille and Marie. He is married to Anaïs Jeanneret, a French writer.
He is ranked 329th richest person in the world according to Forbes, with an estimated fortune of US$4 billion.
He is a close personal friend of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy. It has been said that their friendship goes back over 20 years. Sarkozy has been criticized for accepting vacations from Bolloré, as did president Georges Pompidou with Vincent's father, Michel Bolloré. They have both stated that no conflict of interest exists.